- Title: Supergirl – Hostile Takeover
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Supergirl flies into its winter break with an episode that highlights Kara‘s (Melissa Benoist) relationships with the women in her life. In one storyline she works with Winn (Jeremy Jordan) and Superman’s black friend James “Don’t Call Me Jimmy” Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) to solve a hacking scandal that comes close to forcing Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart) to step down as the head of the company she built. In the other Kara confronts her aunt Astra (Laura Benanti) whose true motivations continue to be ill-defined.
While the Cat Grant storyline works well, playing on Kara’s evolving relationship with her boss and ending on a nice note sure to shake-up the series’ status quo on its return, the Astra storyline continues to be problematic. Given the flashbacks we see here, and Astra’s genuine love for her niece, her actions coming out the gate swinging at Supergirl make no sense. Nor does the show’s continuing to muddy the waters of her actions. Is she an eco-terrorist? From the flashbacks we see she was one of the only citizens of Krypton working to save her world from imminent destruction. Doesn’t that make her a hero? Her capture is also rings false since it wasn’t necessary to disguise a plan the DEO have no awareness or understanding of even after its put into motion.
Given the Astra scenes are what propel the show into the break, the mid-season finale ends on a weak note. However, the Cat/Kara scenes work well as the show continues to flesh out the character of Kara’s boss. There are also a few fun notes along the way such as Cat’s discussion with her assistant about her dual identity, the reveal that Hank Henshaw (David Harewood) knows Superman and, in a somewhat convenient plot point (as it allows him to be unaware of Astra’s plans) is unable to read Kryptonian minds.
